On May 29, 2024, the Treasury published a 2024 Non-fungible Token (NFT) Illicit Finance Risk Assessment. The risk assessment explores how vulnerabilities associated with NFTs and NFT platforms may be exploited by illicit actors for money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. 

On May 20, 2024, FinCEN announced a new initiative to combat the illicit trafficking of fentanyl into the United States as part of the Treasury Department’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force and in partnership with IRS Criminal Investigation (CI). The new FinCEN Exchange series, titled “Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities on the Threat of Fentanyl” (or PROTECT), will be held through the remainder of 2024 in U.S. cities that are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic. 

On May 8, 2024, FinCEN issued an Advisory to assist financial institutions in detecting potentially illicit transactions related to Islamic Republic of Iran-backed terrorist organizations. The advisory was issued in light of the intensified terrorist activity in the Middle East where FinCEN  is urging vigilance in identifying potential suspicious activity related to the financing of Iran-backed militias and terrorist organizations, including Hamas, the Houthis, Hizballah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq and Syria.

On April 22, 2023, coinciding with the Earth Day celebration, FinCEN issued a press release to remind financial institutions to remain vigilant in identifying and reporting suspicious activity related to environmental crimes. According to FinCEN, environmental crimes frequently involve transnational criminal activity related to several of FinCEN’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) National Priorities, including corruption, fraud, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.

On April 15, 2024, FinCEN, in close coordination with the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), issued a Notice to financial institutions on fraud schemes related to the use of counterfeit U.S. passport cards. The Notice provides an overview of typologies associated with U.S. passport card fraud, highlights select red flags to assist financial institutions in identifying and reporting suspicious activity, and reminds financial institutions of their reporting requirements under the BSA.

On March 29, 2024, FinCEN issued a notice and request for information and comment regarding the Customer Identification Program (CIP) Rule requirement for banks to collect a taxpayer identification number (TIN), among other information, from a customer who is a U.S. person, prior to opening an account. Specifically, FinCEN seeks information to understand the potential risks and benefits, as well as safeguards that could be established, if banks were permitted to collect partial SSN information directly from the customer for U.S. individuals and subsequently use reputable third-party sources to obtain the full SSN prior to account opening. 

On March 26, 2024, the FATF announced that the United States has been upgraded to “largely compliant” with FATF Recommendation 24, which relates to beneficial ownership transparency for legal persons. FATF is the global standard-setting body for anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, and countering proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF).

On February 29, 2024, FinCEN issued a press release to inform U.S. financial institutions that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body that establishes international standards to combat money laundering, counter the financing of terrorism, and combat weapons of mass destruction proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF), has issued public statements updating its lists of jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT/CPF deficiencies following its plenary meeting last month.  U.S. financial institutions should consider the FATF’s stance toward these jurisdictions when reviewing their obligations and risk-based policies, procedures, and practices.

On February 23, 2024, FinCEN issued a notice and request for comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of an existing information collection relating to records of certain domestic transactions, commonly referred to as geographic targeting orders (GTOs). The information required to be recorded and reported pursuant to a GTO is basic information that a domestic financial institution or domestic nonfinancial trade or business would have access to in the normal course of doing business, such as payment, receipt, or transfer of funds information.

On February 22, 2024, FinCEN announced that Director Andrea Gacki traveled to Puerto Rico from February 20-22 to attend the 20th Annual Puerto Rico Bankers Association Symposium of Anti-Money Laundering and to meet with Puerto Rican officials to discuss illicit finance threats. Gacki’s engagement with Puerto Rican financial institutions and officials highlights FinCEN’s collaborative efforts to combat public corruption, fraud, and drug trafficking.